WETTABILITY AND PREDICTION OF OIL RECOVERY FROM RESERVOIRS DEVELOPED WITH MODERN DRILLING AND COMPLETION FLUIDS

Contamination of crude oils by surface-active agents from drilling fluids or other oil-field chemicals is more difficult to detect and quantify than bulk contamination with, for example, base fluids from oil-based muds. Bulk contamination can be detected by gas chromatography or other common analytical techniques, but surface-active contaminants can be influential at much lower concentrations that are more difficult to detect analytically, especially in the context of a mixture as complex as a crude oil. In this report we present a baseline study of interfacial tensions of 39 well-characterized crude oil samples with aqueous phases that vary in pH and ionic composition. This extensive study will provide the basis for assessing the effects of surface-active contaminant on interfacial tension and other surface properties of crude oil/brine/rock ensembles